In the unincorporated community of Westmont, work has quietly commenced for a new pocket park on a long-vacant lot.

The new 95th & Normandie Pocket Park, is named for its location at the southwest corner of the intersection of 95th Street and Normandie Avenue. Plans call for transforming the roughly .16-acre property with the addition of a new shade structure, a garden, public art, landscaping, parking, and room for a mobile recreation program.

The new neighborhood park was funded through a nearly $1.3-million Proposition 68 grant awarded in 2020 by the State of California, as well as $650,000 in local funding allocated to the L.A. Neighborhood Land Trust for the project in 2018.

Work begins for pocket park at 95th and NormandieUrbanize LA

Writing for ParkandRecBusiness.com, L.A. County Parks and Recreation Departmental Facilities Planer Clement Lau notes that the new project will increase the percentage of residents in Westmont who live within a 10-minute walk of a park from 57 percent to 74 percent. That amounts to an additional 5,700 residents within walking distance.

"The transformation of this overgrown and forgotten corner at a busy intersection into a lively and beautiful space for rest, play, socializing, and exercise will positively impact the quality of life for Westmont residents," wrote Lau.

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